RACING REPORT FROM TEAM ANZA
Anti Drugs Tour 2007Anti Drugs Tour 2007
: Racing: Anti Drugs Tour of Thailand April 2006 - Race Reports & Results
Saturday, April 8Anti Drugs Tour of Thailand April 2006 - Race Reports & Results
Sent in Daily by Big Col Stage 1, Anti-Drugs Tour, Thailand Facts: - 120km including 25km neutralised - rolling climbs all the way with 3 decent climbs - about 100 starters - 2 races, Open and 30-39 then Masters started a few minutes later - start time around 11am Singapore time - temperature was already 44C in the neutralised section!! ANZA riders Dylan and Colin - Open Seb and Locky - 30-39 Dave - 40-49 In the first race we had to contend with a big semi-pro team - effectively the B squad from the Siam Baru team. Basically 10 thin light fast guys - bugger. Dylan and I got over the 3 main climbs with the front group of about 15. Although we put in a few attacks, you couldn't escape the big team. Eventually Siam Baru let 4 riders away including 2 of theirs and then they controlled everything. Frustratingly no-one would work with us and we lost 3 minutes. I came in seventh and Dylan ninth. But with some hard stages to come we aren't too worried about the time gap. Seb and Locky had a good race and found a nice group to ride with after the tough climbs. They finished safely, about 24 minutes down, and even had the legs to sprint at the end. Dave faired rather worse. He's a bit sick and nearly had to pull out. But there's no stopping Dave and he finished the stage, despite a water shortage, and he only lost 30 minutes. Great effort. Tomorrow A fairly flat 110km stage. We're hoping the big team control it all and it ends in a sprint. Then comes the monster climbing stage on Saturday... arrrggghhh Memories Burning hot water - the water they handed out was the same temperature as us - 45C! Not much use for cooling down and actually nearly burning hot. Trying to eat enough is actually the hardest part. I've felt like vomiting several times today. I never want to see rice or an energy bar again. Our race motto has become "eat till you feel sick then one more". The funniest event actually happened after only a few kms. Dylan turns round to Seb and says "why don't you attack to get things going". Amazingly and stupidly, with 90km and 3 climbs in 45C heat to go, Seb does what he's told. I was so stunned by the idea I sat and watched his suicide unfold without stopping him.. Unbeknowst to Brave and Intrepid Seb as he redlines it, the first climb suddenly appeared and he got caught and dropped, never to be seen again. Great tactical advice from Dylan there. Already being marked down as a potential team manager in his retirement. Will report tomorrow on how the 110km and 2kg of rice went down. Cheers Colin Stage 2 of the Anti-Drugs Tour Today was about 100km total including 10km neutralised. Pretty flat the whole way but still 45C on the road. Overall: after hoping for a nice steady ride in the bunch we were all sorely disappointed to be in a race that blew apart. The tired legs on the start were much more tired by the end. Colin's race: After a few attacks early on, a few guys escaped but nothing too threatening. The only danger was number 10, a Siam Bara rider on the same time as Dylan and I. After 8km a few guys attacked and I tried to get across without getting any attention. Mission accomplished except I found a bunch of 8 other guys all looking at each other and not working very hard. I managed to get 2 to work with me but after a few kms they stopped again. I rode the front a bit, looked back and saw they couldn't even agree who was going to sit on my wheel. I attacked and left them. By now number 10 had a couple of minutes on me but there were long straights so I had a carrot. It took me 20 minutes to ride him down. We spent the next 70kms working well together, taking equal pulls and holding about 40kph steady. We built a 5 minute lead over the next group so I knew we would be the leaders overall. Tactically I didn't want to be in the lead tomorrow and have to defend against the huge team so I let the other guy win and claim the extra bonus seconds. Hope I don't regret that later! Now I'm in second place, 6 seconds behind the leader and 90 seconds ahead of 3rd. Dylan Too busy eating to type. He says it was a frustrating day (between mouthfuls). Think he's on his 7th plate of food since the race - no joke. And there are still 2 more plates in front of him! Seb Stayed with the bunch and helped control things for colin and dylan. Was very stop start with short sprints followed by slowing down to nearly stand still. Evebtualy the legs could not sprint again. Came in nice and easy lost 3 min. Locky Had a better day on the bike being relatively flat helped. Got myself involved in most of the breaks trying to keep myself close to the yellow jersey, who was doing no work what so ever... Got away with Dylan about the 70km mark however the bunch had other ideas. Final got sucked up but the pleleton which was a lot smaller, Dylan attached again but my category did not follow. 5 of us sprinted in ... Long story short there was a bike length between me and a podium position, ended the day 4th, 5th overall on GC. Big day tomorrow...! Dave Still sick so he had a tough day. Although he got in the leading break he couldn't finish. Tomorrow: is full of climbs including 2 huge ones. Wish us luck! The ANZA Tour Team Stage 3 - a pretty brutal day! The course was 131km including 11km neutralised. It was fairly flat for 70km until a big hard climb that took about 20mins (and 99% of what was left in your legs after 2 days). Then it was gently rolling for 20kms then it got bad. The last 30km was continuous sharp climbs and descents ending with another 15 minute climb out of valley plus about another 5 sharp climbs before the finish. And it was still 45C! Colin: Dylan, Locky and Seb did a sterling job keeping it together until the first climb. Only one threatening guy escaped and I knew he wouldn't get much time before the climb. Loads of guys went flying past on the climb but I knew they were going too hard. I kept it steady and went over the top 3rd and worked hard on the descent to bridge to the leaders who had taken out 40 secs. By the bottom I was in a group of 4, the top 4 on GC! The only problem was the other 3 all rode for the same team. I could see what was coming from the second we got together. We rode together for a few kms before they attacked me. Luckily I was strong enough to defend and only their yellow jersey was really strong at that point. But with 30km to go we hit the hard part. They started the games again taking turns attacking me. I defended a few times but then blew up. Then they all jumped me and rode off. That was at 15km to go. That might not sound a lot but there were about 10 smallers climbs then the big one, oh, and then another 5 or so. I lost all enthusiam at that point and lost 5 mins. I finished 4th. And I'm now 4th overall, 1min 40 down on 3rd. Seb: nice steady first 70km. Enjoyed the fact we did not need to sprint every 5min. Then we hit the big climb. Decided to go my own pace and ended up doing the rest of the stage on my own. Had great fun on the desents and hateing the climbs. The last climb was a world of pain. Hardest day on a bike, again. Locky: Felt good today, so good I decided to fly off the front 3 times hoping to get a few to come with me and also get some TV time, failed on both fronts...! The last flyer off the front I managed to stay away for 5km then realised I had another 85km to go and decided that it was a bit to time trial the rest... Then the hills hit, too hilly too hot all resulting in a 55km individual time trial crossing the line not knowing what day it was! Not sure placing, GC should not have changed. Looking forward to a flat day tomorrow, not sure the sprinting legs are feeling the same way. Dylan: he's waiting on food so too preoccupied to type. He got over the first climb in the second group and attacked on his own near the finish. Or so he thought. After a long solo he came upon the 10km to go sign about where he expected the finish. just before the hardest section. He promptly cramped on the climb and limped home. Dave: sat on the front for 70km, again, then cramped, again, and caught a bus home, again. Flat but long day tomorrow then home.... The ANZA Tour Team Stage 4 - Its over, thank god. First the stage report then a final reckoning. The stage was 128km with only 5km neutralised. Although it was overcast and cooler (35C) at the start, it was sunny after an hour and 42C in the shade. Thankfully I didn't check on the bike, but it must have been well over 45C in the sun. We were told it was flat today. Maybe it was if you had fresh legs, or compared it to yesterdays 47 climbs. After some rolling hills in the first 30km we went up a 10km drag into the wind that did a lot of guys in. Proof that it wasn't flat came on the other side. I hit 79kph on the descent and it lasted several minutes at that speed. Flat stage? Yeah right. Colin and Dylan: mission number 1 was to protect Colin's 4th place on GC from a few guys who were within a few minutes. Mission 2 was to try to get away and steal a couple of minutes to get third place. We both worked hard chasing breaks to protect 4th. There was a steady stream of attacks. We both got away at times. Siam Bara knew we were both threats and they chased us hard every time. Although we probably had some of the strongest legs left in the bunch, we had 8-10 Siam Bara guys and a few other GC rivals to contend with. In the end it was too much to ask to steal time back. Defending 4th was hard enough! The plan was to get to 80km then start attacking. That we did. Col was closed down fast every time he twitched or reached for his bottle but they let Dylan away with 30km to go. The plan was for Col to cross but he had about 10 Thais stuck to his wheel. So Col worked hard defending Dylan's break, chasing everyone that attacked. Then he rode tempo on the front to prevent more attacks. Dylan had 3 companions in the break, one of whom dropped off. Unfortunately the other 2 got him in the sprint but 3rd place was worth the effort. Col, determined to shake his reputation as the worlds worst sprinter, concentrated hard and got 6th in the bunch sprint (probably his best ever sprint result) and came 9th on the stage. Col kept his 4th overall. Seb and Locky: both worked hard at the start but the hard stages before and the brutal "flat" roads took their toll. They, along with many others, dropped off with 50km to go and they rode in together. Seb says it was his hardest day on a bike but he's said that every day! Locky had a close call with the Bangalore Boy (more below), coming down a decent at +65km he cuts in the inside then cuts in front, when the heart got back to under 200bpm I decided to have a quiet word with him, perhaps not so quiet, half the peleton turned around to see what was going on... Dave: Masters was about 30km shorter than Open/30s but still a hard race. He earned himself a few beers by working hard for a couple of friends he made. Basically he chased all the attacks until he blew up near the end. Mission accomplished though as his pals got the results they needed. The final reckoning: Bear in mind in the following that there is a 30min cut-off each day. If you fail to finish within the time limit then you are off GC (although you can still start the next day). Just staying on GC is one helluva an achievement given the speed, heat, climbs, distance and competition. I guess less than half the hundred starters finished on GC. Colin: 7th, 2nd, 4th and 9th on the stages, 4th overall Dylan: picked up a 3rd and 9th on stages, not bad for a man who is sick, also finished on GC. Plus one outstanding result explained below. Seb: came 5th overall in the 30-39 category, actually his first ever cycling prize, great effort. Obviously he stayed on GC Locky: 4th and 6th on stages, 6th overall in the 30-39 category, again on GC Dave: should have been in bed sick rather than stage racing. As usual he put in a huge effort until he succumbed each day. The result of the above in terms of hardwear is a number of attractive plates. Let us know if you need some new crockery. Other successes: The following inter-team rivalry has been hidden until now but its time to show and tell (only coz we won). There is a team from India here - known to us as the Bangalore Boys. Number 2 rides what looks like a 1960's Bob Jackson frame with similarly aged components. Think he borrowed most of his kit and other stuff from his great grandfather. He took one upside down water bottle each day and was never seen to drink from it (we don't know why either). He was never seen eating on the bike. Water seemed to be his fuel of choice. But so what I hear you cry. By stage 3 he had eeked out a lead over Dylan of several minutes. Yes, Bangalore Boy was leading a guy riding a Litespeed with Dura Ace and Mavic Carbon Cosmics. He was leading a guy who had every energy drink, gel and sports supplement known to man. Someone who takes his nutrition, hydration and post-race recovery very seriously and who has better fashion - or at least kit bought this side of the Great War. But Bangalore Boy never finished stage 4 within the time limit. Rumours that his bike expired are surely untrue. Our version is that Dylan's brutal attack made him realise his dream of beating Dylan was over and he drifted in outside the time limit. Whatever the truth, Dylan beating Bangalore Boy is surely our greatest triumph. The ANZA Tour Team
Handout: Anti Drugs tour of Thailand 2006
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